PEACOCKS

Noun

peacocks

plural of peacock

Source: Wiktionary


PEACOCK

Pea"cock`, n. Etym: [OE. pecok. Pea- in this word is from AS. peĆ”, pawa, peacock, fr. L. pavo, prob. of Oriental origin; cf. Gr. taus, tawus, Ar. tawu. See Cock the bird.]

1. (Zoƶl.)

Definition: The male of any pheasant of the genus Pavo, of which at least two species are known, native of Southern Asia and the East Indies.

Note: The upper tail coverts, which are long and capable of erection, are each marked with a black spot bordered by concentric bands of brilliant blue, green, and golden colors. The common domesticated species is Pavo cristatus. The Javan peacock (P. muticus) is more brilliantly colored than the common species.

2. In common usage, the species in general or collectively; a peafowl. Peacock butterfly (Zoƶl.), a handsome European butterfly (Hamadryas Io) having ocelli like those of peacock.

– Peacock fish (Zoƶl.), the European blue-striped wrasse (Labrus variegatus); -- so called on account of its brilliant colors. Called also cook wrasse and cook.

– Peacock pheasant (Zoƶl.), any one of several species of handsome Asiatic pheasants of the genus Polyplectron. They resemble the peacock in color.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

8 November 2024

REPLACEMENT

(noun) the act of furnishing an equivalent person or thing in the place of another; ā€œreplacing the star will not be easyā€


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Coffee Trivia

The word ā€œcoffeeā€ entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch ā€œkoffie,ā€ borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish ā€œkahve,ā€ borrowed in turn from the Arabic ā€œqahwah.ā€ The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.

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